


Forgotten Promises

by MLMDarkFiction



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: I wrote this for fun and for myself so!, M/M, Mentioned Crest Related Trauma, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MLMDarkFiction/pseuds/MLMDarkFiction
Summary: To be in this place.To be with him.Any doubts Ingram may have had about The Officers Academy were quickly squashed when he’d seen Beowulf again.(Ingram belongs to me, and Beowulf belongs to a friend of mine, used with permission. This was basically a fic written for myself that I've decided to share.)
Relationships: Ingram Wachter/Beowulf Wighelm, OC/OC
Kudos: 2





	Forgotten Promises

Coming to Garreg Mach was everything Ingram had hoped it would be. It was somewhere for the Noble to grow and thrive away from the watchful eyes of his abusive parents. In the short months since his coming to the Academy he had excelled, learning everything he missed out on in his life locked away with only books to keep his mind occupied. 

The only downside was the thought of Lionel, continuously coming to haunt him like a ghost. He thought of his brother often, in almost everything he did. Lionel, a star student with a promising future, and not to mention a magical prodigy baring their families crest. Ingram often wondered how often Professor Manuela saw Ingram, saw how he could barely cast a spell even if his life would depend on it, and wished it was Lionel she was teaching instead of him. 

And though these thoughts often plague him, he only uses them to fuel the fire. Uses them to get stronger. To become his own person worth teaching. A person worth being. 

The thoughts- The mental torment he puts himself through- They’re all worth it just to be here though. 

To be in this place.

To be with him.

Any doubts Ingram may have had about The Officers Academy were quickly squashed when he’d seen Beowulf again.

When he’d seen Beowulf see him. 

The way his childhood friends' eyes had widened in delight, how he’d ran to him lifting him into the air. 

It was the reunion Ingram had been dreaming of. 

It made up for the years of radio silence from both him and Claude that had started when they originally joined The Academy. 

They remembered him. He wasn’t forgotten. 

Truly that was enough to quell the resentment that had been brewing just beneath the surface. 

Ingram remembers a promise they had made, just him and Beo, when they had been only young children.

-

He had been crying, as he always did when it was time for him to return home, and Lionel to return to school.    
  


He always cried, because he knew as soon as the Holiday leave ended, once Beowulf’s brother and his own returned to Garreg Mach, that Ingram would be left alone with his parents for the rest of the year.   
  
“Iggy! Blue Bird!” And like he always did when Ingram cried, Beowulf panicked. 

Ingram was Beowulf’s first  _ real  _ friend. He was different from Claude, who he had basically been born to protect. 

Ingram was different. 

Beowulf loved him. 

At least as much as a child could love anyone. 

  
“Don’t cry Blue Bird!” He’d clung to Ingram’s side as if his life depended on it, not relenting until the other boys sobs had died down into weak hiccups. 

“I know you’re sad but...I promise you, when we’re older, and I’m bigger, and stronger...I’m gunna take you away and...we can get married!”

“Huh?”

Ingram hadn’t been able to question him, as, almost immediately the others lips were on his own. Beowulf didn’t care that Ingram’s lips were wet with tears and snot. It was a chaste, child's kiss, but it was still both boys first. 

“I promise you, we’ll get married and I’ll save you. Okay?”

And he’d offered the sniffling boy his pinkie. 

“Okay...Okay. It’s a promise, Beo!” 

-

Yes, Ingram still remembered that day as clear as day. 

That memory was what kept him going through everything, and it led him here. 

Even if his parents had only sent him to The Officers Academy for their own personal gain, they also inadvertently returned him to Beowulf’s side. 

Surely Beowulf remembered their promise. They had never spoken about it, never talked about it since Ingram had joined their class, but…

Surely Beowulf would never forget something so...so important. 

The dam finally broke when Ingram had walked into class to see Claude and Beowulf flirting. 

It’s not unusual. At least by Claude’s standards, it wasn’t uncommon to see the House Leader flaunting his stuff, but with Beo.

He was flirting with Beowulf. 

Ingram’s chest hurt.

  
He turned around, he left, for the first time since arriving, he’d skipped a class. 

The entire class period he spent his time steadying himself, after all, it was only flirting. 

Flirting didn’t mean anything. Flirting didn’t mean Beowulf didn’t love him. 

And Beowulf wouldn’t forget their promise, right?

Beowulf just doesn’t realize that Ingram loves him. 

So he makes the decision, he’ll confess to Beowulf. 

He’s seen it so many times in the books he reads, a young beautiful maiden confesses her love to her knight in shining armor, it would be the same. 

Ingram may not be a beautiful maiden, and Beowulf not a real knight but it would be just like a fairytale ending. 

It would be the first step to the happy ending Ingram had been dreaming of. 

He doesn’t even have to wait long for this confession either.

Beowulf had noticed the lack of Ingram in their class, which naturally worried him, as soon as class had ended he’d booked his way to the dorms. He doesn’t even bother to knock, just opening the door to Ingram’s room. 

“Oh.”   
  


He blinks several times.    
  
Ingram was...fine. He was just sitting at his desk, reading a book. 

Beowulf relaxes.

“You...weren’t in class.” He says softly, stepping into his room, and closing the door behind him. “Are you alright?” 

There’s no response for a while, Ingram deep within his own head as he pretends to read. Finally though, he forces himself to look at Beowulf. 

  
“Yeah sorry...I just lost track of time, I guess.” He offers his friend a smile. 

“That’s not like you…” He’s frowning a bit, crossing his legs as he sits on the others bed. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

He has to do this. 

He can’t put it off. 

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,”

“Anything.” It’s said without hesitation. So genuinely. 

It makes Ingram’s heart beat faster in his chest. 

“Beo I-”

No going back.    
  
“Beowulf I’m in love with you.” 

Ingram see’s the confusion on Beowulf’s face, the dread already beginning to settle in his stomach, but he doesn’t stop. His feelings keep tumbling from his mouth in an unending stream of word vomit. 

“I think I’ve probably always been in love with you. When we were kids, we said we’d get married, and if you’re still interested-”

That’s when he’s interrupted, a large warm hand reaching out and taking one of his, effectively silencing the smaller man.

“Ingram...that’s...really sweet.” 

Tears are already making their way to his eyes. Beowulf’s only spoken four words, and yet, Ingram knows the denial, the refusal is coming. 

“You’re my best friend. I love you. I really do. But I don’t love you like that.” 

“Right.” 

He’s crying. Ingram doesn’t know the last time he cried, and yet here is, in front of the person he loves the most, starting to cry his eyes out. 

“Ingram- Blue Bird...I’m sorry.” And just like when they were children, Beowulf can’t stand seeing Ingram cry. He wraps his arms around him in a tight hug.

It doesn’t occur to him that he could be making things worse. That the comfort, the embrace, is only more taunting to the smaller man's broken heart. 

  
The embrace makes him break down. Tears quickly turn to sobs, as he hides his face against Beowulf’s chest. 

  
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” 

Wiping his eyes, Ingram starts to pull away from Beowulf. He doesn’t want to, he wants to cry and be pathetic and have Beowulf comforting him forever, at least that way he can pretend the other actually loves him. 

“I just need some time to myself.”

Beowulf is reluctant to let him go. He knows the shaky smile Ingram’s giving him doesn’t reach his eyes, he knows there’s more he’s left unsaid, but...He nods. 

The least he can do now is give Ingram some space. 

“I’ll see you at dinner?”

“Yeah, Beowulf. I’ll see you at dinner.”


End file.
